Ben A. McJunkin
@benmcjunkin.bsky.social
Criminal law professor at Arizona State University. Homelessness, sex crimes, and policing.
Scholarship here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=681766
Scholarship here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=681766
Pinned
I’m genuinely so excited to announce that my new article, Consent & Causation, will be published by the Virginia Law Review!
I’ll get it up on SSRN soon, but here is the (lengthy) abstract. I always welcome feedback, so please DM or email me if you’d like to read an early draft.
I’ll get it up on SSRN soon, but here is the (lengthy) abstract. I always welcome feedback, so please DM or email me if you’d like to read an early draft.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
Do you want lower rates of "crime"?
Do you want increased childhood development and well-being?
Do you want lower rates of homelessness?
Do you want to reduce overdose deaths?
Do you want these things cheaper than ever?
Then give people housing, food, schooling, medicine, and support, for free.
Do you want increased childhood development and well-being?
Do you want lower rates of homelessness?
Do you want to reduce overdose deaths?
Do you want these things cheaper than ever?
Then give people housing, food, schooling, medicine, and support, for free.
June 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Do you want lower rates of "crime"?
Do you want increased childhood development and well-being?
Do you want lower rates of homelessness?
Do you want to reduce overdose deaths?
Do you want these things cheaper than ever?
Then give people housing, food, schooling, medicine, and support, for free.
Do you want increased childhood development and well-being?
Do you want lower rates of homelessness?
Do you want to reduce overdose deaths?
Do you want these things cheaper than ever?
Then give people housing, food, schooling, medicine, and support, for free.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
BREAKING: A new experiment in Philly shows cash rental assistance slashed homelessness rates by 57–67%.
August 21, 2025 at 11:35 PM
BREAKING: A new experiment in Philly shows cash rental assistance slashed homelessness rates by 57–67%.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
Just wrapped up my first CrimFest! I had a fabulous time and met so many terrific young scholars. Many thanks to @cbhessick.bsky.social and @hashtagblevin.bsky.social for organizing, and Penn Carey Law for hosting!
July 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Just wrapped up my first CrimFest! I had a fabulous time and met so many terrific young scholars. Many thanks to @cbhessick.bsky.social and @hashtagblevin.bsky.social for organizing, and Penn Carey Law for hosting!
Just wrapped up my first CrimFest! I had a fabulous time and met so many terrific young scholars. Many thanks to @cbhessick.bsky.social and @hashtagblevin.bsky.social for organizing, and Penn Carey Law for hosting!
July 15, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Just wrapped up my first CrimFest! I had a fabulous time and met so many terrific young scholars. Many thanks to @cbhessick.bsky.social and @hashtagblevin.bsky.social for organizing, and Penn Carey Law for hosting!
I'm a little late in posting this, but my essay on the Supreme Court's Grants Pass decision last term is now officially out in the Washington University Law Review! If you are interested in the criminalization of homelessness, give it a read!
wustllawreview.org/2025/06/20/g...
wustllawreview.org/2025/06/20/g...
July 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I'm a little late in posting this, but my essay on the Supreme Court's Grants Pass decision last term is now officially out in the Washington University Law Review! If you are interested in the criminalization of homelessness, give it a read!
wustllawreview.org/2025/06/20/g...
wustllawreview.org/2025/06/20/g...
I’ve read an early version of this article and it is very interesting! It makes a great case for systemic mercy for some offenders.
My recent article "Compassionate Undercharging" has just been uploaded on @ssrn.bsky.social ! Highlighting the impact of domestic abuse, it advocates for bringing lesser homicide charges against victimized offenders. #MenendezBrothers
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Compassionate Undercharging
<p><span>Undercharging, a common prosecutorial tactic, refers to the strategic pursuit of lesser charges than the law permits. While undercharging is primarily
papers.ssrn.com
May 16, 2025 at 1:30 AM
I’ve read an early version of this article and it is very interesting! It makes a great case for systemic mercy for some offenders.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
One of the thing that angers me most about unaccountable federal police, including ICE, but also police in general--is every step over the last 30 years to aggrandize their power has been met with warnings that exactly this would happen.
May 9, 2025 at 11:17 PM
One of the thing that angers me most about unaccountable federal police, including ICE, but also police in general--is every step over the last 30 years to aggrandize their power has been met with warnings that exactly this would happen.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
It’s important to pay attention to the fact that there are simultaneous efforts to criminalize mask-wearing by citizens and to standardize the wearing of face-obscuring gaiters by people purporting to be law enforcement.
May 9, 2025 at 8:36 PM
It’s important to pay attention to the fact that there are simultaneous efforts to criminalize mask-wearing by citizens and to standardize the wearing of face-obscuring gaiters by people purporting to be law enforcement.
I’m proud to be one of 775 law professors who signed this amicus brief in support of Susman Godfrey.
law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
law.stanford.edu
April 24, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I’m proud to be one of 775 law professors who signed this amicus brief in support of Susman Godfrey.
law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
law.stanford.edu/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.
April 14, 2025 at 5:54 PM
If the U.S. government is going to take the position that, once removed from the United States, folks can’t be brought back, then it sure seems to me that federal courts should be reflexively and categorically barring *all* removals until they’re 100 percent certain that the removals are lawful.
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
40%-60% of the 775,000 unhoused people in America are employed. We are a nation of the working poor. The working desperate.
Homeless workers now have to submit *proof of employment* to be allowed to sleep in their cars in one of the richest counties in the U.S.
Welcome to America: people shivering overnight in subzero temperatures, steps from luxury ski resorts, for the privilege of keeping the local economy booming.
Welcome to America: people shivering overnight in subzero temperatures, steps from luxury ski resorts, for the privilege of keeping the local economy booming.
In One Colorado Town, People Experiencing Homelessness Can Sleep in Their Car — if They Have a Job
People experiencing homelessness can sleep in their cars in this wealthy ski town in Colorado, but only if they have a job.
www.nytimes.com
April 13, 2025 at 2:31 AM
40%-60% of the 775,000 unhoused people in America are employed. We are a nation of the working poor. The working desperate.
What Missouri has done to St. Louis and Kansas City is a disgrace. They are the only two major cities in the U.S. that do not have authority over their own police. The local nature of U.S. policing is a feature; it puts power to control police in the hands of those who bear most of the costs.
St. Louis residents are upset Missouri's takeover of the local police force will shut down avenues for residents to influence law enforcement practices in their own city. “It is like there is no respect for democracy," said advocate Jamala Rogers.
boltsmag.org/missour...
boltsmag.org/missour...
Missouri Officials Seize Control of St. Louis Police, in Latest Bid to Shutter Local Reforms
The takeover returns St. Louis to a Civil War-era arrangement of state control. A local official calls the move "a clear gesture of white men wanting to control urban areas."
boltsmag.org
April 12, 2025 at 2:14 PM
What Missouri has done to St. Louis and Kansas City is a disgrace. They are the only two major cities in the U.S. that do not have authority over their own police. The local nature of U.S. policing is a feature; it puts power to control police in the hands of those who bear most of the costs.
Was randomly scrolling this morning and saw a face I recognized. One of my students, Alec Bacon ‘26, has just been named an @acslaw.bsky.social Next Generation Leader. I doubt he’s on this app, but I wanted to share his accomplishment. Congratulations, Alec!!
www.acslaw.org/press_releas...
www.acslaw.org/press_releas...
American Constitution Society Announces 2025 Next Generation Leaders | ACS
www.acslaw.org
April 9, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Was randomly scrolling this morning and saw a face I recognized. One of my students, Alec Bacon ‘26, has just been named an @acslaw.bsky.social Next Generation Leader. I doubt he’s on this app, but I wanted to share his accomplishment. Congratulations, Alec!!
www.acslaw.org/press_releas...
www.acslaw.org/press_releas...
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
Although we are a little lower than last year, I’m still proud that Arizona State continues to be recognized for the strength of its criminal law program.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
April 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Although we are a little lower than last year, I’m still proud that Arizona State continues to be recognized for the strength of its criminal law program.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
Although we are a little lower than last year, I’m still proud that Arizona State continues to be recognized for the strength of its criminal law program.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
April 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Although we are a little lower than last year, I’m still proud that Arizona State continues to be recognized for the strength of its criminal law program.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
We have a terrific group of dedicated criminal law scholars that reflect a wide variety of practice experiences and scholarly interests.
Thank you so much to the Widener University Commonwealth Law School and the Widener Commonwealth Law Review for inviting me to present my symposium essay “Harm and Wrongdoing in the Law of Rape” today! I had a wonderful time and was so impressed with the engagement of the audience.
April 4, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Thank you so much to the Widener University Commonwealth Law School and the Widener Commonwealth Law Review for inviting me to present my symposium essay “Harm and Wrongdoing in the Law of Rape” today! I had a wonderful time and was so impressed with the engagement of the audience.
On my way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a symposium on gender-based violence at the Widener Commonwealth Law Review. Excited to talk with @buchhandler.bsky.social @m2dempsey.bsky.social @racheljwechsler.bsky.social among others!
April 3, 2025 at 9:25 PM
On my way to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a symposium on gender-based violence at the Widener Commonwealth Law Review. Excited to talk with @buchhandler.bsky.social @m2dempsey.bsky.social @racheljwechsler.bsky.social among others!
Happy to see my dean on this list!
Today, #GeorgetownLaw Dean William M. Treanor joined 79 law school deans in signing the letter posted below, issued March 26, 2025.
[ Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions. Find the full letter and list of signatories: bit.ly/4hSna6u ]
[ Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions. Find the full letter and list of signatories: bit.ly/4hSna6u ]
!["As deans of law schools, we have a special responsibility for the legal profession. Recently, the federal government has imposed significant sanctions on the law firms of Perkins Coie, Covington & Burling, Paul Weiss, and Jenner & Block seemingly because of the clients they and their lawyers represented and litigation in which their lawyers participated.
We write to reaffirm basic principles: The government should not punish lawyers and law firms for the clients they represent, absent specific findings that such representation was illegal or unethical. Punishing lawyers for their representation and advocacy violates the First Amendment and undermines the Sixth Amendment.
We thus speak as legal educators, responsible for training the next generation of lawyers, in condemning any government efforts to punish lawyers or their firms based on the identity of their clients or for their zealous lawful and ethical advocacy."
[Those signing are expressing their personal views and are not speaking for their institutions]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:326sthh7kvwgjxiobjabout2/bafkreidwv4buajoyedezluwpxxlzg4nyrkko647r3q37yjbfcouat3hrpy@jpeg)
March 26, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Happy to see my dean on this list!
Super interesting new blog post by @rickweinmeyer.bsky.social and @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social addressing the carceral turn in matters of public health, including the contemporary homelessness crisis. We need to find an effective solution that reduces harm and improves health. Give it a read!
Really excited about the new project @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social and I are starting! And a HUGE thanks to @lpeblog.bsky.social and @jamesbrandt.bsky.social for their support of this post on what we’re calling the new carceral public health law.
lpeproject.org/blog/the-new...
lpeproject.org/blog/the-new...
The New Carceral Public Health Law
According to recent judicial decisions, the state can criminalize homelessness, ban abortion, and restrict gender-affirming care, all in the name of public health, yet it cannot mandate vaccines nor…
lpeproject.org
March 24, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Super interesting new blog post by @rickweinmeyer.bsky.social and @benjaminabarsky.bsky.social addressing the carceral turn in matters of public health, including the contemporary homelessness crisis. We need to find an effective solution that reduces harm and improves health. Give it a read!
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
You know it’s a lawyer when the crying is in tenths of an hour
March 20, 2025 at 11:49 PM
You know it’s a lawyer when the crying is in tenths of an hour
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
Death-penalty states should be open about how they kill people; they botch and bungle executions all the time.
At least 16 states — including Arizona which will kill a man tomorrow — have laws that allow them to operate in secrecy.
Tragic. boltsmag.org/secrecy-as-a...
At least 16 states — including Arizona which will kill a man tomorrow — have laws that allow them to operate in secrecy.
Tragic. boltsmag.org/secrecy-as-a...
Secrecy Clouds Arizona's Lethal Injection Protocol as the State Restarts Executions - Bolts
The decision by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs to resume capital punishment aligns with a larger trend of death penalty states hiding key details about executions.
boltsmag.org
March 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Death-penalty states should be open about how they kill people; they botch and bungle executions all the time.
At least 16 states — including Arizona which will kill a man tomorrow — have laws that allow them to operate in secrecy.
Tragic. boltsmag.org/secrecy-as-a...
At least 16 states — including Arizona which will kill a man tomorrow — have laws that allow them to operate in secrecy.
Tragic. boltsmag.org/secrecy-as-a...
It is always worth reading Orin Kerr on the Fourth Amendment. But I find this new Essay particularly intriguing—leveraging his preferred interpretation of Jones to potentially preserve Katz in the face of a staunchly conservative Court. Give it a look!
The Jones test for 4th Amendment searches is simply a physical intrusion test, not a trespass law test. I explain why, and why it matters, in this new article draft:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
March 6, 2025 at 5:24 AM
It is always worth reading Orin Kerr on the Fourth Amendment. But I find this new Essay particularly intriguing—leveraging his preferred interpretation of Jones to potentially preserve Katz in the face of a staunchly conservative Court. Give it a look!
What a fun weekend at the Junior Scholar’s Conference! I met some incredible people (too many to name for fear of leaving someone out), learned about cutting-edge research, and got to visit one of my favorite cities. Also, very happy that Crim was so well represented among the participants.
March 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
What a fun weekend at the Junior Scholar’s Conference! I met some incredible people (too many to name for fear of leaving someone out), learned about cutting-edge research, and got to visit one of my favorite cities. Also, very happy that Crim was so well represented among the participants.
On my way to the Junior Scholars Conference in Boston! Looking forward to presenting “Consent & Causation,” as well as meeting new colleagues.
Thanks to @davidasimon.bsky.social for organizing!
Thanks to @davidasimon.bsky.social for organizing!
February 27, 2025 at 4:19 PM
On my way to the Junior Scholars Conference in Boston! Looking forward to presenting “Consent & Causation,” as well as meeting new colleagues.
Thanks to @davidasimon.bsky.social for organizing!
Thanks to @davidasimon.bsky.social for organizing!
Reposted by Ben A. McJunkin
This is correct.
Health care is one of the data-driven ways you reduce crime 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Health care is one of the data-driven ways you reduce crime 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
The GOP is signaling major cuts to Medicaid are coming.
Recent studies have shown cuts to Medicaid have a big consequence that gets typically ignored: crime increases.
boltsmag.org/medicaid-cov...
Recent studies have shown cuts to Medicaid have a big consequence that gets typically ignored: crime increases.
boltsmag.org/medicaid-cov...
“We Need to See the Bigger Picture”: How Cuts to Medicaid Hurt Public Safety - Bolts
When a state made cuts to Medicaid, depriving people of access to health insurance, the crime rate increased: That’s the finding of a new academic study, supported by the National... Read More
boltsmag.org
February 22, 2025 at 9:39 PM
This is correct.
Health care is one of the data-driven ways you reduce crime 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Health care is one of the data-driven ways you reduce crime 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻